Eric Molina dethrones Tony Grano, wrests WBC-NABF Heavyweight Title
By Jhay Oh Otamias
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 29 Apr 2013
Molina wins.Last night at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California, Texan Eric Molina 20-2, 14 KOs, staved off a nightmarish knockdown in the 12th round and clung on to dear 'til the final bell by holding, running, and covering up from the desperate bombs of his equally tired foe, to lift the NABF crown from Tony Grano, 20-3-1, 16KOs of Hartford Connecticut, by unanimous decision, 116-110 twice and 114-112.
After a listless first 2 rounds that had the crowd booing and egging for more action, the challenger Eric Molina began throwing long jabs, at the start of the 3rd round to the head of the shorter and slower Tony Grano, while backpedaling, to pile up points. In the 5th round, Eric Molina scored a knockdown, but did not press his advantage, instead, he continued to maintain a safe distance and content to throw right hands sparingly which only drew more boos from the crowd. The same pattern went on, round after round, until Tony Grano's perfectly pitched right straight in the last round, caught Eric Molina flush on the chin, dropping him hard to the floor, that provided some drama to the otherwise uneventful fight.
Molina connects with a right straight on Grano.
Stiverne and Arreola in action.
Their NABF Championship fight served as the main undercard to the 12 round WBC Heavyweight Elimination bout that saw the No. 2 ranked Quebec, Canada-based Bermane Stiverne upset the No. 1 contender Cristobal Arreola by unanimous decision to become the mandatory challenger for WBC champion, Vitaly Klitschko. The HBO Before Dark-televised big doubleheader was a Goossen Tutor boxing promotion and sanctioned by the California State Athletic Commission.
In other bouts, Featherweight Vladimir Gavrilov of Russia was stopped in the 3rd round by Mexican trialhorse Jose Garcia, who despite toting a dismal record of 1-6-1, still proved too strong for the young Moscovite, who was figuring in only his 2nd bout.
Junior Lightweight Charles Huerta rolled on to his 18th win against 3 losses by knocking out Jonathan Alcantara in the 1st round. The Californian Charles Huerta befuddled his opponent from El Salvador with double left jabs punctuated by a smashing right to the face to flatten Alcantara in the 1:30 mark of the opening round.
Juan Funez scored a 2nd round KO over Christian Cartier in the featherweight bout. And, Junior Middleweight Oscar Molina needed only 55 seconds to dispose of Jose Martell in their 4-rounder.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Jhay Oh Otamias.
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